Snuggly fun!
Our neighbor gave us this giant teddy bear…Lilah loves it. She crawls all over it and snuggles it, it’s so cute.
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The "cry" face...
Lilah looked so much like Vivianne when she was born, now as she grows up, she’s getting more of her “own” look. One thing, though, that is still so incredible to me, is they both share the same “cry” face. I swear to you, when I see or hear Lilah cry it is like watching my first born all over again. The big crocodile tears, the way their mouth wrinkles up just before the waterworks begin, it’s ALL the same, the exact same! I took this picture today and as I was looking at it I just laughed, not at Lilah, but just at the fact that she looks like a mini twin of her sister when she was Lilah’s age.
PS: We were making cupcakes for Thomas…he gets home today after being gone all week! We can’t wait to see him :-)
Lilah pulled up!
Lilah pulled up to a standing position, although it was brief, she willingly stood on those two feet of hers :-)
Summer Fun
Here are a few pictures taken during our most recent visit with the MN Kerstens and our trip to the Wisconsin Dells.
Lake Forest Days Parade, 2010
Vivianne, Lilah and I walked in the Lake Forest Days Parade to support the Drop-In Center this morning! Vivianne had a blast handing out candy. It was so much fun to watch her. She thought she was such a super star. There was a big turnout, despite the early morning showers and extremely hot temperatures. Lilah slept in the stroller the whole way :-)
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Lake Forest Days Carnival, August 2010
“You don’t really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around—and why his parents will always wave back.”—William D. Tammeus.
Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon
So it’s nearly six-thirty in the morning on Sunday, August 1st, and I’m looking for my corral (i.e., group) along with about 20,000 other participants on the streets of Chicago. Way back (in February) when I had signed up for this thing, one of the questions they asked you was to estimate your predicted finishing time. I guesstimated 3 hours and 20 minutes which was apparently quite conservative, placing me in the 26th out of a total of 29 corrals. Basically, there were 29 groups/corrals, when the race starts, the first group (comprised of the wicked fast runners) goes, the race officials wait a couple of minutes, and the 2nd group (more wicked fast people) is signaled to go, and so forth, staggering the runners. So, yea, I am waaaaaaaaay in the back with the “slow” people, most of whom were probably planning on walking most of, if not, the entire thing. I find the 26th corral sign, and proceed to make my way into the pack. And I say pack, because that is the only term that seems fitting. If you’ve ever been to Time Square at the conclusion of a Broadway show you might understand what I mean when I say you are literally shoulder-to-shoulder with the next guy. Claustrophobics would not fair well in this environment. The sun is just starting to peek out from behind the clouds, it’s about 65 degrees with little to no wind…a beautiful day in Chicago. I think to myself, at least it’s not 100 degrees out already…maybe I will get lucky and it will top out at about 90 when I’m nearing the end of this bad boy.
Ughhhhhh, that is what I’m feeling like at this point. “Why in the hell did I sign up for this?” has been the question of the hour, scratch that—- question of the minute going through my head. I look around me, everyone looks more prepared than me…which didn’t take a whole heck of a lot, being I didn’t train at ALL, for this event, I mean nothing, I wasn’t even running on a regular basis. Now, don’t get me wrong, I had high hopes of doing the full training program, way back when (February), but somehow that enthusiasm flew out the window after running the 10k in May. I had pretty much made up my mind that running any distance longer than maybe 3 miles was absurd and one that I wouldn’t partake in doing ever again. So that super attitude, along with the fact that Thomas wouldn’t be running the 1/2 marathon as originally planned, made the whole thing easy to mentally block out. I just wouldn’t do it. Simple. Easy. Done.
BUT, these little email reminders kept showing up in my inbox, and the guilt began to set in. So it’s Wednesday, five days before the race, and I email a friend of mine, asking her if she still planned to run in the marathon. She and her husband, who has a torn hamstring mind you, are both going through with it. Peer pressure and I have never been friends…so after little deliberation, I decide I’m in. The practical side of me steps in, I’ve already paid for it, how bad can it really be? It’s just one day, right? La-de-da-da-da.
So back to the race, we start, I start off slow, which wasn’t hard because I was in the back of a pack of twenty thousand people, you could only go so fast. The entire race, I was practically on top of the person next to me, in front of me, and behind me. I thought maybe it would die down a bit as the race went on, but no, I guess that’s what happens when you are in the “slow” group, and maybe should have been in the “not-so slow, but still kind of slow” group. Anywho, I’m running, and running, and running. I’m blasting my ipod and just trying to concentrate on anything but the pain that I am enduring. I actually keep going, surprisingly. The people on the sides of the streets were so amazing. Giving high fives, cheering you on, it was definitely the highlight of the whole thing. Bystanders were holding signs, the first one I see was, “Trust your Training!” Shit, I think. The next sign I see reads, “Have Faith. Stay the Course.” Yes, pray I think, just pray. People would pass me wearing shirts with cancer related slogans on, and that would make me rethink my whole “pain” situation…it obviously wasn’t anything compared to what these people have gone through. So I kept on, and on and on. I made it to mile 10 without walking…but then the bear and his cubs and all of his buddies jumped on my back. It was a very tough last three miles, I sort of half walked/ran the rest of the way. My run was like a long walking stride with a little leap mixed in…my body was just shutting down. It was screaming at me, “STOP!” But alas, the finish line appeared. Two hours and twenty-six minutes after I started, I finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whooo hooooooooo!
Am I glad I ran it? Heck yea! Will I ever do it again? Not likely :-)
Lilah's 9 month well baby visit-
Lilah had her 9 month check up today, she weighed 18 pounds, 6 ounces (25-50th percentile) 27 inches long (25th percentile) and her head circumference measured 17 and 3/4 cm (75th percentile). The doctor said around 9-12 months, genetics take over, he alluded to the fact that her length may continue to drop on the growth chart as her mom and dad are not exactly giants… oh well, so much for our Center star, but we’ll settle for a Forward or Guard position as well :-)